THE BROTH LADY

This past weekend was spent teaching another fantastic group of women and men home to cook seasonally in Mickey garden at Glenmore House in Camden.

To describe her garden as magical would not do it justice...it is simply sublime on every level. And given any opportunity I'm there in a heartbeat ready to cook up a feast and always supply a dumpling for hers truly.

On day 1 after I put the pots on and ventured out into her garden to see what was available for the soup I would make the following day along with the chicken dumpling, I drove home with quinoa dumplings stuck in my head. I've been dreaming of how I could make this fluff into a dumpling and had played around with it and egg and a few other bits and pieces but it would never stay together. Anyway, I decided to take my mess that I'd attempted to make into dumplings the night before to the class, I was determined to make it happen one way or another a quinoa dumpling was on the cards, I had to make it happen!

So we get to the chicken dumpling part of the workshop, and I decide I work best under pressure so lets try it, if it works YAY, if it fails - total humiliation!!

I'd blended the chicken dumpling mixture together and decided to take half the chicken mixture and combine it with the quinoa. The stickiness of the chicken mixed with the cooked quinoa might be a marriage made in heaven.

We mixed, we rolled, they stayed together - PHEW! We poached in Broth and I hasterly let everyone try them and they were good, really good, so good I felt I should share.

They are the gluten free replacement for a matzo ball - no jokes.

So here it goes.....experiment number 285,390✔️

I've given you a few different flavours - not that I've made them all but I know they would work well.

SHOP IT:

1 cup of quinoa (I use Olive Green Organics) - soak for at least 3 hours, then rinsed and cooked - 1 cup soaked and drained quinoa to 1 cup of water or broth. Once cooked set aside.

IN YOUR FOOD PROCESSOR BLEND THE FOLLOWING WITH THE FLAVOUR YOU CHOOSE

2 eggs

1 large organic chicken breast - skin removed

salt and pepper

Mexican Quinoa Dumplings

1/2 a small de-seeded mild chilli

1/2 teaspoon of cumin and sweet paprika

1 spring onion chopped roughly

1 large garlic clove

a handful of fresh coriander - leaves or stalks will work, wash them very well

the zest of 1 lime plus the juice of half that lime

Italian Quinoa Dumplings

a handful of parsley

1 large garlic clove

a small pinch of dried chill (omit for kids)

1/2 a cup of finely grated parmersan cheese

a handful of fresh peas or corn

1 leaf of cavalo nero (tuscan kale)

Mean Green Quinoa Dumplings

a handful of parsley

1 large garlic clove

a handful of fresh peas

1 spring onion chopped roughly

a handful of peppery rocket or kale

Pretend Matzo Ball Quinoa Dumplings

a handful of parsley

1 large garlic clove

1 spring onion chopped roughly

1 small carrot grated very finely

ONCE BLENDED MIX THE CHICKEN MIX OF CHOICE WITH YOUR COOKED AND COOLED QUINOA USING YOUR HAND, MAKE INTO BALLS AND POACH FOR MAX 5 MINS IN A POT OF BROTH.

They are soft little pillows that melt in your mouth.

ALL RECIPES AND PHOTOS PROPERTY OF MICHELLE SCHOEPS AKA THE BROTH LADY

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Michelle Schoeps

Some would say I'm bordering on obsessed, possibly bossy when it comes to my food choices and feeding of my family - I call it committed! Committed to having a healthier happier life and helping my kids make good food choices now and in the future. We are a 6 being family. My boyfriend Max (a photographer), our kids and our dog Mazzy. Like most families there are a million and two after school activities. Our life is chaotic.But despite this I feel we shouldn't neglect what we put into our bodies least of all our children's. I want my kids to eat as much unprocessed food as humanly possible, I want to show you how to do it. That is, how to feed a family super delicious healthy food. Lessons we teach them now will be with them forever.